WORLD BRIEFS

FRANCE: Socialists deliver blow to Sarkozy

The French left made a big-time comeback Sunday, crushing Nicolas Sarkozy's conservatives in regional elections colored by voters' economic worries. Cheers resounded from Socialist Party headquarters as leftists swept races from the Riviera to Paris. With 97 percent of ballots counted, the Socialists and their allies won 54 percent of the vote, while Sarkozy's UMP party had 35.3 percent, according to the Interior Ministry. Nationwide strikes were planned Monday by train drivers angry over pension reforms and teachers angry over job cuts.

AFGHANISTAN: 13 civilians dead in violence

Thirteen civilians died in violence Sunday as the nation's hard-line vice president expressed hopes for reconciliation and representatives of a militant group with ties to the Taliban took their own draft of a peace deal to Kabul. Talk of reconciling with insurgents has done little to slow the fighting, yet the issue is gaining steam, partly fueled by a "peace jirga" that President Hamid Karzai will host in late April or early May.

SOUTH KOREA: Recall of 60,000 GM cars

General Motors is recalling nearly 60,000 automobiles in South Korea for potential problems with steering wheels, fuel hoses and seats, the company's local unit in Seoul and the government said Sunday. The recall of 58,696 vehicles begins Monday and covers four models manufactured in South Korea, said Kim Byeong-soo, a spokesman for GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co.

THAILAND: Backing down to protesters

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday he will send representatives to hold talks with protesters who have been calling for him to step down, but his antagonists want to meet him personally. Vejjajiva has so far held firm against demands from the Red Shirt movement that he dissolve parliament and call new elections, though he has said he is willing to consider the idea.